Folding bed.



E. L. BLACKMAN & R. J. MILLER.

FOLDING BED.

APPLIGATION FILED MAR. 20, 1913.

Patented 001.27, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E. L. BLACKMAN L R. J. MILLER.

FOLDING BED.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.20,1913.

Patented Oct. 27, 1914.

2 SHBETSHSHEET Z.

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ERNEST BLACKMAN .AND ROBERT J'. MILLER, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

FOLDING BED.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 27, 1914.

Application led March 20, 1913. Serial No. 755,687.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, ERNEST L. BLACK- MAN and ROBERT J. MILLER, citizens of the United States, residing at Oakland, 1n the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Folding Beds, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to folding beds and particularly to that type which is built 1n and with the house in which it is used.

The principal object of our invention is` to provide a folding bed which will take up a minimum of space in the building.

A second object is to provide a folding bed which cannot be detected by aperson unaware of its location. j

A third object is to design a folding bed which shallbe simple in construction and operation and which can be made and 1nstalled at a minimum of cost.

A final object of our invention resides in the particular arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described.

. Referring to the accompanying drawings Figure L1 is a side elevation of our bedin folded position, partly broken away to show the construction at one corner there of. Fig. 2is a. horizontal section taken on the line 2`2`of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the bed as opened, the wall being in section. Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 1- 4t of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of an arrow.` j

In the several views of the drawings the same part is referred to by the same reference character. j

. Referring more particularly to the drawings, `1 represents the wall of `.a room, the lower part of which is finished in panel work 2, such as is now used` extensively in residences and apartments. Said paneling is shown as composed of base board 3, panels such as 4f, vertical battens such as 5, and a` cap board 6 extending parallel to the base` board. `Above the cap board is usually` placed a shelf, such as 7 Paneling such as that just described generally extends to a1 height of 5 feet or so above the floor 8.

When installing our improved hed in a house or apartment, a closet such as 9 is formed in the wall which is of su'flicient depth to suitably contain the bed, when the bed is closed. As shown in Fig. 1, the closet 9 is concealed by a section of panelinglO which is mounted to swing downwardly and outwardly with the bed frame when the latter' is unfolded. In order to conceal` the joint between the panel work 2 and the section 10 we provide two battens such as 11--11 which are mounted on spring hinges such as 12-12 and are adapted to swing` conceal the handle 141 by which the bed o frame is adapted to be raised and lowered.

The frame of the bed is designated as l5 and comprises four pieces disposed so as to inclose a rectangle, braced at the inner corners by angle irons such as 116. The two side members ofthe farme 15 are desig-` nated as 16 and 17, while the head and foot pieces are designated as 18 and 19, respectively. The members 1S and 19 each carry a plate 2O which is provided with a centrally projecting pin or stud 21 which is pivoted in one of the suitably bored plates 22 mounted on upright studding posts 28-23, shown in Fig. 2 as lying within the line of the wall 1. The plates 2O and 22am so placed on the bed frame and on the posts 23, respectively, that when the frame is vertical as shown in Fig. 1, one edge of the frame projects nearly to the floor, but when the frame is unfolded as shown in Fie'. 4c what was formerly the lower edge of the frame projects into the closet 9 but clears the inner wall thereof. Themembers 18 and 19 each carry bracket members 24 which project at` right angles to the members 18 and 19 and` are curved at their outer `ends as shown in 2419 1n Fig. 1, so as to project toward the inner wall of the closet- 9 whenthe frame is in a horizontal position. The ends 24a form convenient parts for attaching springs 25 to said brackets, the other ends of the springs 25 being fastened to the 1floor somewhat in the rear of the posts 23 so that the springs 25 serve to counterbalance the weight of the bed in great measure.

1t will be noted that the handle 111 mentioned above is counter-sunk into that face of the member 16 which is on the outside of the frame when it is lowered.

Head and foot rests 26 and 27 are pivoted in the angle iron braces 116 adjacent the members 18 and 19, respectively. rlhe portions of the rests 26 and 27 which are directly attached to the angle irons, are curved as shown at 28 in F ig. 2, so that when the bed is folded the rests 26 and 27 will lie to one` side of the frame 15, thus allowing space for a mattress. Also when the bed is opened, as shown in F ig. l, this curve throws the weight of the members 26 and 27 to the outside of the pivot so that the weight of the rests helps to hold them in a vertical position, and it will also be apparent that the rests will abut against the members 18 and 19 when in the position shown in Fig. 1- so that they will be braced in one direction. At one end the members 18 and 19 are provided with recesses such as 29 shown in TEig. Ll, within which recesses are mounted legs 30 which are loosely pivoted to the members 18 and 19 near the ends thereof. lWhen the bed is unfolded and swung down into the position shown in Fig. 4L the legs '30 swing down into a vertical position Lowing to their own weight, but when the bed is raised again they automatically swing baclr into the recesses 29. l/Vhen unfolded the legs support one edge of the frame.

lt will be understood that the paneling 10 is attached to one side of the frame 15 and that when the frame is swung up into the position in Fig. 1, the joints between the paneling 1() and the fixed paneling 2 are closed by the hinge members 11 and 13. The members 11 will be held open when the bed is down by contact with the frame 15 but the member 13 will tend to swing downwardly due to its own weight when the bed is down so that there would' be diliiculty in swinging the frame back into place when closing it. In order to prevent this diihculty I provide two links such as 31 which are placed at opposite ends of the member 13 and pivoted thereto. l also provide twopins such as 32 which project from the fixed top board 6 in opposite directions and the links 31 arev provided with notches along one edge which are adapted to engage the pins 32. Consequently when the member 13 is raised the notches in the links 31 are drawn over the pins 32 and one pair of said notches will engage the pins so as to hold the board 13 in a raised position until released by hand. lt will also be understood that the board 13 is provided with two finger notches in its lower edge as indicated at 33. 'Consequently, in using our improved bed, the iingers are inserted into the notches 33 and the top piece 13 raised whereupon the concealed handle 14% is accessible and by means of this handle the frame 15 is swung down into the position shown in F ig. 4, whereupon the legs 30 will support the outer end of the frame. Owing to the springs 25 the user is subjected to only a small amount of weight in lowering the frame. The battens 11 will be swung aside by the frame 15 as it opens. Upon raising the members 26 and 27 the bed is then ready for use. When it is desired to close thebed, the frame is raised by small finger holes in the lower edge of the piece 13.

1t is of course evident that the positions of the head and foot rests of the bed may run in the opposite directions from those shown, should the height of the paneling in the house be such as to permit of this. In such a case, the paneling would have to be slightly greater in height than the length of an ordinary bed, or somewhat over six feet, whereas in the arrangement shown, the paneling need only be as high as the width of the bed. j

It will be understood that while we have shown and described the preferred form of our invention, various modifications thereof may be made without departing from the spirit of our invention, and that we contemplate all such modifications as arevmechanically equivalent to that shown and described herein. 1t will be further understood that parts of our invention may be used without using the whole.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is 1. The combination of a bed frame, pivotal supports on the bed frame, an arm attached to said frame and extending at an angle thereto, a spring attached to said arm adapted to' partially counterbalance the weight of saidframe, a head rest and also a foot rest pivotally connected to said frame, and legs loosely pivoted to said frame near two corners thereof. j

2. rlChe combination of a bed frame, pivotal supports for said frame, a projecting i arm rigid with said frame extending `out- In testimony whereof we aiix our `signa- Wardly from the plane threof, the outer end tures in presence of two Witnesses. of said arm being `bent su stantially at right angles and a spring; attached to the outer end of said arm at one end and to an exterior support at the other end whereby the Witnesses:

Weight of `said frame is partially counter- FRANK H. CARTER, balanced. F. P. SCHROEDER.

il m y Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington,` D. C. 

